Search Engine Optimization

In layman’s terms, Search Engine Optimization or SEO is essentially tweaking your website so that it comes up naturally or organically for search results in Google, Yahoo Bing or any other search engine.

Google updates its algorithms regularly so that only the relevant results come up. From that perspective, many experts say that SEO is dead and the effort is futile. However, the truth is that Google tries to prevent algorithm manipulation and filters sites that don’t deserve to be on the top of SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages).

So there is no doubt you should invest in SEO work. Your website should address the technicalities related to content and query matching, spidering, indexing, and interpreting non-text content.

Remember, it is the most cost-effective marketing strategy that will bring organic traffic to your business.

Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing or SEM is the comprehensive strategy to drive traffic to your business, primarily through paid efforts. Hence it is also called Paid Search Marketing.

The universe of SEM is diverse and complicated. Based on your business structure, you may choose PPC (pay-per-click) or CPC (cost-per-click) model, or CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions) model.

There are different platforms for SEM. By far, Google AdWords (on Google Network) and Bing Ads (on Yahoo Bing Network) are the most popular.

SEM also includes Display Advertising, Search Retargeting & Site Remarketing, Mobile Marketing and Paid Social Advertising.

You may choose a single-point strategy like PPC, or go for a complete SEM strategy, including Display and Retargeting. But whatever you do, make sure your work is managed by experts as wrong planning may make your costs go haywire.

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing or SMM is an offshoot of your SEM efforts. It involves driving traffic to your sites or business through social sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Linkedin, etc.

As we mentioned above, good content is shared and liked. So create and customize content for different social media platforms. Remember to be prolific and original; you need to engage with users on a daily basis, at least four to five times a day. Your SMM efforts can be especially helpful for branding and driving sales.

If a business is suffering from low engagement on their social profiles, it’s usually because they don’t have an accurate ideal customer profile.

Buyer personas help you define and target the right people, in the right places, at the right times with the right messages.

When you know your target audience’s age, occupation, income, interests, pains, problems, obstacles, habits, likes, dislikes, motivations and objections, then it’s easier and cheaper to target them on social or any other media.

Content Creation

Research shows that content creation is a definitive method of marketing in 2014. All recent changes to Google’s algorithm – be it Panda, Penguin or Hummingbird – point to the fact that content is the most important metric while filtering search results.

You can be creative and create content on any topic and then skillfully link it indirectly to your business. You may like to read our article on how to include content and market your startup or business free of cost.

Also, you need to customize your content for different platforms. For example, the content for mobile phones should be crisp and short.

Remember, an effective strategy will engage your readers and leave them interested in more information from you. Good content is shared and is the best way for branding your business.

The Power of Video Content

When successful brands look at the online resources, tools, and platforms they have at their disposal, YouTube always surfaces to the top. For the past 10 years, it has solidified itself as the premier host for visual content and perhaps the single most valuable marketing channel on the web. It can easily be integrated into other existing strategies and is so flexible that businesses can use any number of marketing techniques.

Unless you look at the numbers, it's impossible to fully understand the impact and power of video content. Consider that YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, approximately 33 percent of all online activity is spent watching video content, and that 75 percent of users visit a marketer's site after viewing a video. Furthermore, four out of five internet users remember the video ads they watch online and 64 percent are more likely to purchase a product from an ecommerce site after watching a related video.

Those are compelling statistics and show just how powerful video is as a marketing channel in 2015 and beyond. If you aren't currently using video, or don't believe your strategy is effective or appropriate, now is the time to shift your thinking and tap into the incredible power of YouTube.

Digital Display Advertising

This again is a subset of your SEM efforts. You may use a variety of display advertising formats to target potential audience – be it text, image, banner, rich-media, interactive or video ads.

You can customize your message based on interests, content topics, or the position of the customer in the buying cycle.

Easy, affordable and powerful, online display ads run online to build brand awareness and drive sales – to both online and brick and mortar stores. Display ads are among the most effective for grabbing online visitors’ attention and help you set yourself apart from other advertisers. Seacoast Media Group provides a variety of online display advertising formats to help you reach the right audience for a good return on your investment. Your consultant can work with you to create a custom plan that includes the advertising units that achieves the marketing goals for your business growth.

Retargeting and Remarketing

One of the most interesting new marketing techniques, retargeting (or remarketing) tracks customers through cookie placement and continues to show them ads for products they’ve viewed in the past across a network of websites. Since only 2% of traffic converts on a first visit, retargeting is a simple, powerful way to keep your brand and product in the minds of potential customers and requires little effort on the part of the company. As the technology for retargeting improves, flexible brands will stay on top of the trend to find ever more organic ways to raise brand profile.

Retargeting has emerged as a preferred strategy as you target customers who have already shown interest in your business; and hence the conversion rate is high.

You may engage in Retargeting on your site, or on social network or on the mobile. Visualizes your strategies based on the customers’ buying cycle.

Mobile Marketing

According to a report, Mobile Marketing will be worth $400 billion by 2015 in the US alone.

We strongly recommend you try out Mobile Marketing. Remember, the website, apps and content should be customized for mobile devices.

By 2017, mobile devices are expected to reach 2.6 billion units worldwide. So as more people use smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, the potential of mobile market continues to grow.

Interactive Marketing

Make sure your advertising strategy engages the potential customer in a conversation.

According to a survey by ExpoTV.com, 55 percent respondents preferred to have ongoing communications with the companies they buy from; and 89 percent felt more loyal to the companies if they were invited to provide feedback.

Use tools like widgets and opt-in features to make your website interactive, solicit feedback and track user behavior.

Engage with the customers actively and customize offers based on their preferences and browsing activities.

Viral Marketing

Viral marketing combines many elements of the marketing mix. Some call it ‘content marketing’, as it always involves disseminating an element of content across multiple channels.

This can include videos on Youtube, blogs, email marketing, as well as traditional elements, but the aim is to ensure that the content captures the imagination of your market, and that the content spreads naturally through online communities.

Here’s what the most successful digital marketers will have in common in 2014

They understand “Content without conversion is just free publishing".

Viral Marketing is a strategy where a unique content spreads exponentially online, because the content is appreciated, shared and liked immensely.

This is a great way to brand and drive traffic to your website. The content can take any format; all you need is to be creative.

Email Marketing

When you send a commercial message through email to a list of potential customers, the strategy is called Email Marketing.

With an effective email marketing software, you can maintain email lists that are segregated based on several factors, including customers’ likes and dislikes, and spending habits. Remember to send personalized emails; this helps to develop trust.

However, note that Email Marketing may also be considered as spamming and there are laws against it in some countries.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is a performance-based marketing program, where you pay publishers who bring you customers. The performance may be based on conversions – promotions, leads or simply sales.

You may like to be part of the affiliate programs of different publishers. Essentially, the publishers will give you space in their pages to advertise your business and help you drive conversions; and you will pay them based on the compensation model.

You may avail the help from an Affiliate Network, which will give you a large base of publishers, and other benefits like tracking and reporting technology.

Affiliate Marketing is especially useful for startups, as it will bring in more traffic to their business through high-traffic sites.

In essence, Affiliate Marketing is a win-win situation for both the merchants and publishers.

Sites like Amazon, eBay, Link Share and Flip kart run Affiliate Programs. In fact, most online businesses with appreciable traffic have their own affiliate programs.

Digital Media Planning and Buying

When a media agency researches and makes a comprehensive strategy framework, we call it Digital Media Planning.

Be it in driving sales or conversions, launching a new brand or promoting an established brand, or changing customer behavior, the media agency plans different platforms and formats to reach the desired audience. It studies reach and frequency of different web-based and mobile applications.

The agency works with different partners and buys relevant space and ideas. This is called Media Buying.

In essence, Media Buying and Planning entails all the strategies that we have discussed above.

Web Analytics

Perhaps, the most important aspect of your Digital Marketing is Web Analytics.

Web Analytics should not be confused with Web Statistics. As opposed to simple reporting, Web Analytics gives you analyses and different angles to ponder vis-à-vis your business.

Some of the important Web Analytics tools are Google Analytics, Spring Metrics, Woopra, Clicky, Mint and Chart beat.

It goes without saying that every advertiser should use Web Analytics to understand his business and improve the ROI and conversions.

Community Building

The common thread in these best new digital marketing techniques is the need for brands to cater to the desire of consumers to be seen as individuals, and not just as a number. Consider the recent viral WestJet campaign that secretly fulfilled fliers Christmas wishes. With this campaign, WestJet managed to give an airline a warm & fuzzy personality (no easy feat), and to demonstrate responsiveness. Brands need to prove a genuine interest in the personalities of their dynamic customer base, and to treat communication as a way to build an authentic, like-minded community.

As we grow more digitally-driven, the physical community of neighborhood commerce is giving way to more fluid and larger communities online. Even brick and mortar companies are now global participants. Digital marketing offers a way to move beyond your field and into the world at large.

Blogging, RSS & News Feeds

Blogging – and ensuring that blogs are visible – involves not just writing blogs, but creating a blogging strategy that brings together SEO, PR, social media and web design.

As we grow more digitally-driven, the physical community of neighborhood commerce is giving way to more fluid and larger communities online. Even brick and mortar companies are now global participants. Digital marketing offers a way to move beyond your field and into the world at large.

Conclusion:

It is important that you use different marketing strategies for your business and then find out which work best. In most cases, it is the combination of many strategies that will serve your objectives.

Digital Marketing is a dynamic medium and you should always be adapting to the changes. Use a Web Analytics tool to track performance and plan your next move.

Celebrity Marketing

Famous people have always made excellent salesmen. Presenting a familiar face is one of the fastest and easiest ways for companies to create brand associations in the minds of consumers. When a widely loved actor or a heroic sports figure endorses a product, that product gains immediate credibility.

Celebrity marketing is a tactic featuring a famous person to offer an endorsement of a product. This famous person might be an actor, musician, athlete, ex-politician or a cartoon character. They do not need to be international superstars; they only need to be familiar to the target audience. For instance, a famous skateboarder might be unknown to the population at large, but beloved in the circle of young men that energy drinks are being marketed to.